NY-Presbyterian Nurses Ratify Contract Ending Bitter Strike
NY-Presbyterian Hospital nurses overwhelmingly ratified a new three year contract on Feb. 21.
| 21 Feb 2026 | 11:22
This year’s strike was far more bitter than a strike three years earlier that lasted only three days. The inflatable rat was on display at Mount Sinai West on Jan. 20. Mount Sinai and Montefiore nurses voted to end their strike on Feb. 11 but New York-Presbyterian nurses did not ratify a new contract until Feb. 21. (
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Nurses at New York-Presbyterian ratified a new contract on Feb. 21, ending their strike after 41 days. Mount Sinai and Montefiore had ended their strike on Feb. 11. All three systems walked out on Jan. 12. (
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The strike involved hundreds of nurses picketing each day during one of the coldest stretches in the winter. (
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders were among the elected officials who turned up to lend support to striking nurses. (
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The longest and most bitter strike by nurses in New York City history is over.
Forty one days after they walked off the job, striking nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian voted overwhelmingly on Feb 21 to ratify a new three-year contract that will give them pay hikes of just over 12 percent over the course of the contract as well as increased protection against layoffs and increased staffing levels, the union announced.
NY-Presbyterian was the last of the three big hospitals to return to work. More than 10,000 Nurses who had walked out of two hospital systems at Mount Sinai and Montefiore Health Systems in the Bronx vote to end their strike on Feb. 11 and returned to work on Feb. 14.
The strike was longer and more bitter than the previous strike three years ago which ended after only three days. At its peak, nearly 15,000 nurses were on strike. The 4,500 nurses on strike at New York-Presbyterian will be returning to work within the next few days.
Although the three hospitals hired a high priced crisis management PR firm, the nurses seemed to enjoy broad based public support. Whistle blowing nurses walked the picked lines during a bitter cold snap and drew support from elected officials including Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Passing motorists, taxi cab drivers and fire engines frequently showed support by blowing horns as they passed picket lines.
The nurses union claimed that chronic understaffing put patient health care in peril and pointed to the multi-million pay packages that top executives at the hospital were being paid.
The hospitals claimed that with the impending federal health care cuts the nurses initial demands were excessive, seeking wage hikes of up to 40 percent.
Staffing levels were a big part of the negotiations. On Feb. 17, an arbiter had awarded nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital an award of $399,829 for chronic understaffing in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit.
The three hospital systems brought in traveling nurses that were getting $9,000 a week to take care of patients during the strike. But electi sveurgeries were cancelled and some patients were moved to branches of the hospital systems that were not on strike.
“Nurses went up against the wealthiest, largest private employers who tried to undermine nurses’ spirit and union power repeatedly,” said NYSNA executive director Pat Kane. “Nurses remained strong through one of the hardest fights the labor movement has seen in this city in years and proved to employers that when you mess with the nurses, you have to face the city’s entire labor movement.”
In the end, 93 percent of the nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian approved a contract over Feb. 20 and 21 that was similar to the 4 percent pay hike agree to at the other two hospital systems. Only seven precent voted it down. Nurses at NY-Presbyterian had split with the other two hospital systems initially and pushed for greater protection against layoffs and protection against A.I. with some increased staffing. The union said many of their demands on staffing were met.
Management appeared to be striking a conciliatory tone now that the long and bitter strike is over. “The new contract reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play as part of our exceptional care teams,” said a spokeswoman for NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia.
The strike by New York-Presbyterian lasted 41 days. All three hospitals began their strike on Jan. 12.